1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a starter for starting an internal combustion engine of a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
It is proposed in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/392,269 filed on Feb. 22, 1995 to activate a motor in two stages, i.e., at two speeds to engage a pinion with a ring gear smoothly. For example, the motor is activated in two stages by connecting a resistor to an electric current circuit of the motor, actuating the motor through the resistor with a voltage lower than a rated voltage until the pinion engages the ring gear. The motor is actuated with the rated voltage by shorting the resistor after the pinion engages the ring gear.
In the above-described method, other than a motor contact (a primary fixed contact and a primary movable contact) disposed in the electric current circuit, an auxiliary fixed contact connected to the primary fixed contact through the resistor and an auxiliary movable contact corresponding to the auxiliary fixed contact are disposed so that the auxiliary movable contact, together with the primary movable contact, moves with a plunger of a magnet switch. The auxiliary movable contact needs to contact the auxiliary fixed contact before the primary movable contact contacts the primary fixed contact. Therefore, for connecting the resistor to the electric current circuit, more component parts are required resulting in a complicated structure and reduced reliability.